A sessions court here on Thursday held newspaper columnist Anish Trivedi guilty under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and sentenced him to six months' imprisonment. Mr. Trivedi, however, got bail when he went in appeal. “[Mr. Trivedi] was given six months [imprisonment] and fined Rs. 25,000 under Section 3 (1) (x) of the Act for insulting members of the Scheduled Caste,” public prosecutor S.B. Dukhande told...

A thriving black market in kerosene, estimated to be worth Rs 10,000 crore every year, killed additional collector Yeshwant Sonawane. A litre of kerosene sold at ration shops is often costlier than a bottle of packaged water. Most of this "poor man's fuel" is pilfered and sold in the black market for a price that's two or three times higher. It's really money for jam. Sonawane tried to meddle with this...

In the middle of a debate about corruption in high places, the curse struck in a macabre manner from the base of the pyramid on the eve of the celebration of the republic. An additional collector was burnt alive in daylight by a gang that sprinkled kerosene on him after the 44-year-old officer caught their aides pilfering fuel from a tanker in Maharashtra’s Nashik today. The prime suspect, who has a history...

The Election Commission feels that the situation in Bengal is “worse than anticipated” and that the ground realities necessitate “an exclusive plan of action” for conducting the Assembly elections this year, according to sources. The commission made the observations after going through a report submitted by a six-member team that visited the state last week. The “exclusive plan of action” will have a bearing on the number of phases for the elections,...

The government may levy duty on two important drug ingredients imported from China and Mexico to protect local suppliers. The move could increase prices of popular antibiotics for consumers besides threatening business of about two dozen small drugmakers. The commerce ministry has recommended anti-dumping duty on Penicillin G Potassium and 6 APA, after Indian suppliers complained Chinese and Mexican firms are shipping it at a low price to kill competition from...